Avengers Academy: Character Reel
by Quick-5
Summary: The students of the Kingdom of Marvell's illustrious Avengers Academy lead interesting lives. Catch a glimpse into how they lived before they enrolled and became Avengers. A little test I'm putting forward. May blossom into a full-fledged story one day. Maybe...
1. Chapter 1: Cobalt

**AN: G'day, mates! So, this is a little test for an idea I've been thinking of doing for a while. A little "Avengers in the RWBY Universe" fair. For now, I'll be posting little previews for each of the main characters, each of whom is based off a Marvel hero. If I feel good enough about, I'll try putting them into a full-fledged story.**

 **But for now, enjoy what I have so far.**

* * *

It was a calm, humid night, typical of late summer. The docks were abandoned, the only commotion coming from a few ducks bobbing in the water, settling in for a good night's rest. Unfortunately for them, they would get none. The ducks were shaken from their rest and quickly flew off as an unscheduled arrival pulled into the docks.

The boat was simple, a moderately large vessel painted a dark, murky green. On the hull was painted the emblem of the owners: A red skull with a gaggle of tentacles emerging from below surrounded by a red circle.

A few passengers leapt off the boat carrying ropes. They quickly tied their vessel to the dock as it drifted closer. A gangplank lowered onto dry land, providing safe passage for the rest of the passengers.

The crew consisted of a collection of men and women all dressed in green military uniforms with the familiar insignia emblazoned on their shoulders. Their faces were concealed by goggles and facemasks, their heads covered by dark green helmets. They carried an assortment of weapons, from pistols to assault rifles. They were well-armed...just in case.

The only crew member not abiding by the unspoken dress code was a man of average height wearing a very...unusual costume. His face and body were concealed by a beige uniform covered in kevlar armor, giving him protection from any and all sources. He carried no weapon, but all the other passengers kept their distance from him as best they could. On the man's back was what looked like an artificial mane reaching down to his calves. His forearms were covered in this artificial hair as well. Finally, his mask was blank save for two eye-holes meant to display the illusion of anger.

Truth be told, he was feeling more impatient than angry. The docking had been delayed by a few hours due to a slip-up by their police contacts. Harbor patrol must have switched up their schedule. Either that or the deal had gone sour. Either way, the man was annoyed.

The man walked up to a massive warehouse. On the door, sprayed in graffiti, was a crown encrusted in purple jewels. They had found their target.

The man raised his fist before pounding on the door three times. "Open up!" he demanded.

"Password?" A soft voice asked from behind the door.

"Just open up!" the man repeated.

"Password." the voice insisted.

The man groaned. "Jewel." he said.

With that, the mechanisms behind the door sprang to life. The heavy whirs of gears and pulleys propelled the heavy door upwards painfully slowly. In reality, it opened at what would be an acceptable pace, but to the armored man, it felt like an eternity.

Once the door raised itself above his height the man briskly made his way into the warehouse, coming to a stop in front of his contact.

In stark contrast to the armored man and his associates, the individuals in the warehouse all wore fine three-piece suits and wide-brimmed fedora hats. They looked more ready to attend a wedding or dinner party than to commit a crime, but the armored man was unphased.

"What went wrong?" the armored man demanded. "We were supposed to dock an hour ago."

A tall, slim man took a step toward the man. "Our contact made an error in judgement. He's being dealt with." the man spoke softly, his voice remaining monotone.

The armored man growled. "Whatever." he said. "Doesn't matter. You got the stuff?"

All of the suited individuals nodded in unison, moving to reveal the 'stuff' that the man was referring to. Out of the darkness of the warehouse came a tall, grey, industrial-looking box.

Underneath his mask, the armored man smiled for the first time that night. "Open it." he commanded. The suited individuals complied, punching a code into a small keypad on the side of the box. With a hiss, the locks on the box released, allowing the front to open and reveal its' contents to the world.

"Perfect." The man almost purred as he gazed upon the precious cargo. "Seal it up again. We need to get this thing onto the boat before-"

The man was interrupted by a scream of pain from behind him, quickly followed by another as his perimeter guards were taken out. The man whirled around to find his green-suited cronies aiming their weapons at a lone figure, shrouded in shadow, standing outside the warehouse, the unconscious bodies of the guards at his feet, smoke rising from their chests.

"Gotta say, not the friendliest welcome." the figure said, clear confidence in his voice. "You should work on that. Paints a bad image for the enterprise."

"You've got 1 minute to explain yourself before my people blow you to smithereens." the man said, lowering himself into a battle stance.

"Me?" the figure asked, gesturing to himself. "I think you're the ones who should explain yourselves, seeing what you're buying."

"Just who the hell are you?!" the man demanded.

"Well…" the figure began to answer. "I'm the guy you're stealing from. And I'd like my stuff back." With that, the figure stepped forward, revealing his attire to those inside the warehouse. His body was covered from head to toe in gleaming silver armor, with tiny slits for eyes and another resembling a mouth. The only other break in the silver was a blue light in his chest. A battery of some kind.

The man scoffed. "Really? So _you're_ the head of Stark Industries?" he asked skeptically.

"Yes." the figure replied nonchalantly. "Well, CEO-to-be, but that's besides the point. Point is, that's my stuff," he pointed to the box "and I want it back. Tell you what:" he folded his hands. "If you give what I came for, then I'll let you leave. You get to go off free with all your teeth and I get my stuff back. Everybody wins."

The man chuckled. "I don't think so." His cronies prepared to open fire.

The figure sighed. "Yeah...I figured as much." he said. "Well...don't say I didn't warn you, Porcupine."

"Porcupine?" The man, confused by the unexpected nickname, was unprepared for the hot blast of light that sent him flying backwards.

The figure lowered his hand, where the blast had come from. "This could have been so easy…" he said.

With that, the green-clad cronies fired away. Their bullets bounced harmlessly off the figure's silver armor as he pointed his palms at the cronies, blasting them away with his bright laser weapons.

"Alright! Who's next?" the figure asked, but no-one answered. He was confused. He could have sworn there were more people in the warehouse. "Huh." he said. "Oh well. Now to-"

The figure was tackled to the ground in a blur of motion. After hitting the concrete floor the figure realized that it was the Porcupine with a smoking hole in his chestpiece.

The Porcupine grunted. "You're gonna pay for that, you little twit!" he threatened, attempting to get a hold of the figure's mask.

"Oooh! I'm-ugh-so scared!" The figure taunted, grasping the Porcupine's arm before he could grab his mask. "You gonna prick me with your quills, Porcupine?"

"Funny you should say that." The Porcupine wrenched his arm from the figure's grasp and, to the figure's surprise, the fur on the Porcupine's arms had indeed sharpened into quills.

"Oh God…" The figure said quickly. Just as he finished the sentence, the Porcupine slashed at the figure's chest with his quills, earning a cry of pain from the figure. He had managed to break the metal.

"Porcupine...heh." The titular assailant said to himself. "I kinda like it. Thanks for that." He readied another strike, this one a thrust straight into the figure's chest. "Still gonna kill you, though."

"Urgh-Keep thinking that." The figure said. Before the Porcupine could jam his spines into the figure's chest, the figure rocketed away at an incredible speed.

The Porcupine fell flat on his face in surprise. "What!?" he cried out, scrambling to his feet. The Porcupine looked up to see the figure, floating in the air, flames emerging from his boots.

"C'mon. You didn't seriously think I made this thing and didn't add rocket boots, did you?" the figure taunted, his hands on his hips as he hovered defiantly.

"Get down here and fight me, you coward!" The Porcupine called angrily.

"Hmm…" the figure pretended to contemplate, tapping his chin with his index finger. "Nah. I'm good. The angle is just right."

"Angle?" the Porcupine asked, confused. "For what?"

"For this." The figure replied as his chest-mounted battery began to glow. It didn't take long for the Porcupine to figure out what was about to happen, but even by then, it was too late. A massive blue beam erupted from the figure's chest, blasting the Porcupine through the wall of the warehouse, sending him screaming into the water.

Once it was clear that the warehouse was empty, the figure descended back to the floor, leaning over and placing his hands on his knees. He began breathing heavily before standing up straight again, laughing to himself. He reached up to the sides of his head and removed his helmet, revealing his raven-haired, blue-eyed, grinning face.

The figure placed his helmet under his left arm and raised his right wrist to his mouth. "Jarvis, you there?" he asked.

" _Of course, sir."_ A smooth, computerized voice rang through the figure's ear.

"Write this down: uni-beam test #1. As powerful as I predicted, but hurts like hell. Should try and fix that." The figure dictated. He looked down at one of the fallen goons, still unconscious. "And run an image search on the symbol these guys wear. I want to know what we're dealing with."

" _Yes, sir."_ Jarvis replied. _"Also, you have 3 missed calls from Miss Potts...and one incoming call from her."_

The figure froze. "Jarvis, drop the call, drop-" he began, but was interrupted by a female voice ringing in his ear.

" _Cobalt? Cobalt, where are you?"_ The voice rang out.

Cobalt's face fell. "Heeeey Pepper." he said. "I'm...out."

" _Please tell me you aren't chasing down trouble again."_ Pepper said, already knowing the answer.

"Uh…" Cobalt stammered. "Bad news: yes. Good news: I found the missing shipment. It was about to be sold to some mercenary types, but I put a stop to that. No problem."

" _Ugh."_ Pepper groaned. _"Cobalt…"_

* * *

 **And that's that. I know it seems more "Avengers" than "RWBY" and, that's kind of what I was going for. I'll post the next chapter when I get around to it. Maybe. We'll see.**

 **Neither Marvel nor RWBY belong to me. If they did, then I'd be a rich man. Unfortunately, I am not.**


	2. Chapter 2: Orin

" _BZZZZZZZZ"_

The loud buzzing permeated through the iron jungle. Orin looked left, then right, then straight up. No sign of them. She was safe for now. She creeped out from the corner she hid in as soon she could. She dashed forward, weaving through the unnatural blocks and curves of iron, seemingly made for no other purpose than to just get in her way.

Unfortunately, her display of quick reflexes and athletics were not enough to keep her out of the sight of the predators.

" _BZZZZZZZZ"_ The buzzing grew louder as the predators descended upon their fleeing prey. Orin looked behind her, and there they were, descending rapidly, aiming to crush her under their weight. She wouldn't have that, and quickly dove out of the way, avoiding the weight of the enemy by seconds.

The predator hit the ground with a resounding crash, its' weight shaking the earth. It had missed its' prey, but the hunt was not over yet. Glowing red eyes tracked its' nimble target, zooming in and locking on. The predator gazed upon its' prey, taking in every detail it could. It was human. Female. Brown hair. Pale skin. Clad in black and orange. Those were the colors to track...

Orin rose to her full height and turned to look at her pursuer. The massive, iron insect that had pursued her throughout the iron jungle, its' cold red eyes never leaving her, its' metal mandibles clicking as it prepared to continue its' attack, its' wings having ceased their constant buzzing.

Orin whipped around as 2 more insects landed behind her, ready to group in on her. It was 3 against one. Now the fun could begin.

In a flash, a bug was upon her, opening its' jaws wide. But she was ready for it, leaping upwards and bringing both feet down upon the bug's head, sending it slamming against the floor. Another dashed forward hoping to bite her in two, but it would have no such luck. A fast dodge to the right prevented Orin's death by mere moments, but she wasn't done yet. She grabbed a hold of the bug's antennae and held on for dear life as the insect tried to shake her off to no avail.

Orin raised a hand and, to the bug's surprise, a glowing blade erupted from her wrist. The electrified, neon yellow weapon plunged into the bug's eye, sending it into a frenzy as it tried desperately to remove its' attacker. It eventually succeeded, but that was exactly what Orin wanted. Now was the time to test out her newest trick…

As she descended towards the open and waiting jaws of the insects, Orin suddenly halted in mid-air, as if brought to a stop by an invisible bungee cord. She grinned. It had worked. Upon closer inspection the bugs found that a pair of transparent, insectoid wings had sprouted from her back. She had gained the aerial advantage.

Nevertheless, the bugs continued their assault, taking to the air in pursuit of their prey. Both of Orin's wrists sprouted their blades as she flew directly towards her enemies, ready and willing to put them to use.

She shot her arms forward, shooting a burst of electricity from her blades directly at the bugs. The action caught the bugs off-guard and they suffered the full brunt of the attack, shocking them into halting their attack. Taking advantage of this, Orin zipped between the bugs, slashing at their sides with her blades, creating long gashes that sparked and flashed as the bugs struggled to recover.

Meanwhile, the third bug had spotted its' prey with its' one remaining eye. It's mandibles clacked as it prepared for its' attack. The bug lunged at the still-airborne Orin with its' long, barbed stinger at the ready.

Orin smirked as she watched the bugs struggle to regain their composure as they flailed and spasmed. Her weapons were definitely fully operational. Unfortunately, she was too busy admiring her work to notice the massive stinger coming straight for her. When the third bug came into her peripheral vision, panic overcame her and she only had enough time to put her arms up to block the attack. She barely managed to deflect the attack, but at a cost. Upon hitting her arm, a metal brace around her left wrist shattered and fell to the ground.

She was down one blade, but not out. She scowled as the bug went in for another attack, thrusting its' stinger in her direction. She dodged the pointy weapon once, twice, three times before beginning her counterattack. Using her remaining blade she sliced the stinger clean off the bug thrusting it forward into the bug's thorax, electricity coursing through the creature's metallic body. Then, in one swift motion, Orin chopped off the bug's head, sending it plummeting to the ground. Wires flew about and electricity sparked where the bug's head used to be as the body's wings stopped buzzing and the beast fell down, down, down.

Unfortunately, the battle was not over. The other two bugs had regained their composure and were rapidly approaching Orin from below and above her, their gleaming red eyes burning with determination. Orin stayed still as the buzzing creatures rapidly grew closer, their mandibles clacking as they prepared to end the fight, and then she darted away.

' _CRASH'_

The two bugs collided head-on, shattering their heads into pieces as they collapsed into a broken heap on the ground, their bodies lifeless and limp.

The battle was over. Orin had won.

Letting out a breath she didn't realize she'd been holding, Orin calmly descended to the ground and collected the remains of her brace. She regarded the pieces solemnly as she gathered them in her arms. She'd have to build a new one...again.

Suddenly, a great white light came from above. Orin looked upward, smiled and slowly hovered her way towards the light. She could take her time. Today's fight was over.

"That was a close one." Dr. Sherwood Pym observed, bending over his terminal, eyes scanning over the footage. "I knew I shouldn't have installed the stingers so early on. You could've been impaled!"

Pym whirled around in his chair to face the Iron Jungle set behind him. Ascending from the miniscule obstacle course was his girlfriend, Orin Jan, standing but 3 cm tall.

"You worry too much." Orin's voice came through the speakers next to his terminal. "Besides, I'm the one who asked for 'em! If I didn't think I couldn't handle 'em…"

"I know, I know." Dr. Pym said. "I'm just…"

"Cautious?" Orin asked. With that, the tiny Orin floated forward and, before Dr. Pym's very eyes, grew to her full size. "I know." she said, this time in person, wrapping her arms around her boyfriend's shoulders. "I wouldn't have it any other way."


	3. Chapter 3: Loki

A single spotlight cut through the inky blackness. Underneath the beam of light stood a lone figure. It was a young man, standing tall, his posture perfect as if nothing was wrong. His appearance oozed with sophistication, with a green jacket and tie alongside brown slacks and suspenders making up his wardrobe. He held a cane, his hands folded over the glass bulb atop the handle. His eyes were closed, but he was not relaxed. He waited. Waited for the first strike.

His eyes snapped open, and as quick as a flash he spun around, tossing his cane in the air before catching it right underneath the bulb and thrusting it outwards. A gout of flame erupted from the cane and blasted a figure in the darkness. A loud whine rang out as the fire died down and the man returned to his original position.

The light expanded to reveal the figure to the man. It was a wolf. A black wolf with a massive patch of singed fur. But it wasn't alone. An entire pack of black wolves surrounded the man, their yellow eyes burning with rage and their sharp fangs bared as they snarled. The man was unfazed by this revelation and simply smirked as the wolves began their attack.

As two wolves charged forward the man sent a blast of flame at one while dodging the second before striking it with his cane, flames erupting from the impact point as the wolf flew away. Another wolf charged, attempting to bite the man's arm, but the man thrust his cane into the charging wolf's maw before it had the chance. The wolf bit down on the bulb and attempted to wrestle the weapon from the man's grasp. As the man kept his grip on the cane, trying to wrench it out of the wolf's jaws, 3 of the wolf's packmates tried to take advantage of his predicament, and launched themselves at him.

But as soon as they were ready to sink their teeth into the man's flesh, his thrust his free arm upward and a wall of pure ice materialized just in time to save him. The wolves crashed into the wall, whining as they slumped to the ground. Taking advantage of the momentary distraction, the man used both hands to yank his cane free of the offending wolf's maw and encasing it in a prison of ice. He then swung his cane like a baseball bat, shattering the ice wall and sending fragments of ice into the flesh of the wolves attacking him.

The man tapped his cane on the ground as he glared at the remaining wolves, who all slinked back into the darkness, recognizing him as a clear and present danger. The man nodded, satisfied with their display of intelligence.

That was when he heard the scraping of metal on concrete. He raised his cane, ready for battle. The spotlight expanded to further to reveal his next opponents: from all sides he was surrounded by large, bulky, human-like entities clad in rusty, metal armor. Their faces were hideously deformed with sunken-in eyes and massively wide jaws with equally large underbites. They had fangs that erupted from their bottom jaws and carried heavy weapons. Axes, broadswords, and hammers were dragged along the concrete floor as the beasts advanced on the man.

The beasts growled as the man looked upon them with alertness and anticipation. He spun around, taking in his entire situation, his cane ready to blast fire and ice at his attackers.

The largest beast raised his hammer into the air and pounded his chest as he roared a savage roar, inciting his minions to charge at the man, their weapons poised and ready. The man stayed still, seemingly unaffected by the sudden attack. The closest beast swing his mighty axe downward, ready to take the man's head off when, as soon as the axe touched his coat, he vanished into thin air. The beasts halted their assault and looked around in confusion. Their target had been there just a moment ago. Where had he gone?

Their answer came quickly and mercilessly as their commanded screamed out in pain. The beasts turned to see their largest companion fall flat on his face, a great black scorch mark on his back. The man stood behind him, his cane smoking and his face grinning cockily.

The beasts quickly recovered from their shock and charged at the man once again, but he was ready for that. Another image of the man appeared directly in front of the beasts, causing them to stop and stare in surprise. Then another appeared behind them. Then another, and another, and another. Soon the beats found themselves surrounded by an army of the one man, all mockingly grinning.

The beast snarled with rage as they attacked the images, all of them dissipating when touched. All the while, their real target casually waltzed around the battle, shooting fireballs into the fight with his cane, each one taking out a beast swiftly. Before long, only one beast remained, swinging his sword at the countless illusion before him when they all suddenly vanished. The beast whirled around, shocked by the sudden change before he found his target. With an enraged roar the beast charged forward once again. The man simply smirked, sidestepped the rampaging maniac and smacked it in the back of the head with his cane, causing it to immediately burst into flames and dissolve into ash.

The room was quiet once again as the man vanquished his foes. He stood proudly as he took on his surroundings, the smell of ash permeating the air. To him, it was the smell of victory… and singed hair, as he quickly deduced judging by the heat prickling the back of his neck. He quickly patted down the flames licking the tips of his slick hair. A momentary, but annoying interruption to his composure.

THOOM

The ground shook as the man came to the realization that his trials were not over.

THOOM

The spotlight widened considerably as the form of the final opponent was revealed: a massive, hulking, snowy white creature clad in armor carved from pure ice. It carried a massive axe made from obsidian, it looked ready to use it as its' blank, white eyes stared down at its' prey.

The man staggered back as he gazed upon his predator, feeling the air around him seemingly drop in temperature as the giant drew closer, each step creating a miniature tremor.

With that, the man spun his cane around in his hand before thrusting it toward the ground with both hands. As the cane made impact great puffs of green smoke surrounded the man, completely obscuring him from view, causing the giant to lean down to get a better view. What the giant didn't suspect was what would emerge from the smoke.

A massive, room-filling serpent rose from the smoke, towering over the giant and baring its' sharp fangs dripping with venom. The giant took a mighty step backwards in shock, being faced with a massive snake being the last think it expected from this battle. The serpent snapped at the giant, driving it back farther and farther with each lunge of its' head again and again and again. Finally, the giant had had enough, swinging its' axe in an attempt to cut the serpent in half.

To the giant's shock, the serpent vanished into thin air the moment its' axe touched its' scales. The giant looked around in shock, finding itself alone and astounded by the apparent trick. It didn't have long to think though, as it suddenly found itself unable to move its' foot. It looked down to find a series of glowing green runes surrounding its' appendage, evidently being the cause of its' current immobility, and standing behind it was its' prey: the green man, waving his cane around like he was painting an invisible landscape.

The giant moved to stomp the pest flat when he suddenly found his other foot glued to the ground as well. The man had thrust his cane toward its' other foot and had cast another rune, trapping the beast in place. The giant roared in anger and raised its' axe high, ready to split its' tiny assailant in half. The man was quickly alerted to this, a look of panic crossing his features briefly as he dove out of the way to dodge the giant weapon as it slammed into the ground.

Now between the giant's legs, the man quickly pulled out a book out of his jacket and flipped through the pages with haste as the giant continued to cry out in anger. Finally finding what he was looking for, the man slammed his cane into the ground once more, ready to end this battle once and for all. With a crackle and a zap, a great green blast of lightning shot out of the man's cane and surged directly into the giant, causing it to reel back in pain as the energy coursed through its' body.

Then, as quickly as the energy blast began, it ended. The giant stood stock-still for a brief moment, an expression of pain frozen on its' face. Then its' frame started to crack, like a crumbling statue beginning to collapse under its' own weight. Seeing this as his cue to escape, the man dashed out from under the beast as it fell to pieces over him, casting white powder all over the area. The man coughed and waved the dst away from his face as he stood up straight once again. The giant was now but a pile of rubble. He had won. The battle was over.

The air soon filled with uproarious applause as the man smiled and looked upwards. His surrounding were revealed to be an arena filled with hundreds of people, all praising the man with admiration. The man swelled with pride, offering several sweeping bows in every direction as he basked in his own glory,

The loudest applause came from a man and woman who sat apart from the rest of the crowd in their own private, lavishly decorated box. The large, long-bearded man arose from his throne-like seat and held up a wide, gloved hand. The audience slowly halted their clapping and the man in the arena turned to face the spectator, a massive smile on his face.

"Congratulations, Loki!" The bearded man spoke loudly in a boisterous voice. "You passed the test!" He folded his arms in front of him, his words becoming more subdued and sincere. "You're finally ready, son."


	4. Chapter 4: Tasha

_BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! BEEP!_

The red light flashed repeatedly as the alarm blared. The tap-tap-tap of hundreds of boots echoed throughout the halls as the base went on red alert. Steel met steel as iron barricades descended upon the windows and doors locked into place. No-one would be entering or leaving the base any time soon…

" _Attention all personnel level 3 or higher!"_ Rang through the intercom system. " _Report to the safe rooms immediately! This is not a drill! Repeat, this is not a drill!"_

"Dammit…" The pale, mousy man muttered to himself as he made his way down the illuminated halls. "Dammit, dammit, dammit!"

"Just calm down, doctor." One of the soldiers protecting the man said. "You'll be safe in no time."

"No, I won't be." the doctor said. "Nowhere is safe now. Not for us…"

"The safe rooms were built with this specifically in mind, sir." the soldier continued. "No matter what happens, she won't be able to-ack!" the man suddenly clutched the back of his neck as he fell to the floor, unmoving.

"She found me…" the doctor breathed, forlorn.

"Get him out of here! Go!" Another soldier shouted as he whirled around, his rifle at the ready.

The doctor took off running, two more soldier following close behind, trying to ignore the sounds of battle and screams of pain behind them. Within minutes, they reached their target: an armored door, locked with a keypad.

"Get the door open, doc! Now!" One of the soldiers shouted, lifting his rifle, ready to fire at anything that moved.

The doctor reached his shaky hand into his lab coat and fished out a security card, fumbling with it in his hands. He quickly slid the card through the slot next to the keypad, bypassing the security code with ease. With a series of clicks and beeps, the door unlocked.

"Gah!" The doctor shoved the heavy door open with haste, hurried along by the dying screams of the soldier behind him who was currently hanging from the ceiling by his neck.

"There she is!" the other soldier screeched as he opened fire in the general vicinity of his partner. It did no good as a black blur rushed forward, tackling him to the ground and jabbing a small blade into his throat, killing him swiftly.

 _CLUNK_

With that, the safe room doors' lock clicked into place, sealing the room off from the rest of the world. The doctor stared out the square window, giving him a glimpse at the being before him. He was having trouble believing that he'd made it to safety. The black shape stood up to its' full height and strode over towards the door. The light from within illuminated the figure, revealing its' true form to the doctor: a form he knew well… a young woman with fiery red hair and venomous green eyes...eyes filled with hatred and pain as they bore into the soul of the doctor.

The doctor gulped as the woman stared him down, sweat forming at his brow. "Tasha." he whispered. "I know you can hear me." The woman said nothing, just continuing to stare at the doctor. "It isn't too late." he continued. "You can put a stop to this...you can…"

The woman's expression remained as stone. Their staring contest seemed to go on for an eternity. The doctor felt like she was trying to peer into his mind, to tear him apart with her stare. He couldn't blame her...not if she knew what he had done...what Hydra had done…

"She's here!" the voices of soldiers rang out from the end of the hallway. Tasha's only change in expression was a flick of the eyes, acknowledging the soldiers before turning back to the doctor for one last glare. With that, she stepped back into the darkness.

"Fire!" the lead soldier shouted, and her underlings obeyed, shooting off their rifles in Tasha's direction yet hitting nothing. Tasha avoided the projectiles with relative ease, predicting where they would end up with pinpoint accuracy. With a flick of the wrist she produced a small handgun and fired at her attackers. Each soldier fell from a single shot, their bodies spasming in electrical shocks. Only the lead soldier remained, readying her weapon as she prepared for the inevitable assault.

Tasha struck from the darkness above, grasping the lead soldier's neck between her legs and snapping it like a twig, sending her to the floor in a heap. Tasha landed silently, formulating a backup plan as she slinked through the halls of the base, the sounds of alarms continually blaring in her ears. Her primary target was beyond her reach. Her mind had been one-track, and she didn't think ahead. Foolish. Stupid.

But there was no time to dwell on that. It was time to take drastic measures. She knew the layout of the base well, and knew just where she would go next. Sticking to the shadows and avoiding any patrols of soldiers she could, she slinked through the corridors and into the subterranean levels of the mysterious compound.

The bright lights of her target room brought her out of the shadows. A massive window revealed the glowing orange generators that kept the lights on above ground. Dust-powered generators. Very powerful...and very unstable when handled carelessly. Tasha planned to do just that.

She walked forward to a control panel stretching across the windowed wall showing any number of buttons and dials that would mean nothing to the average person, but she knew what to do. Without hesitation, she began pressing and typing away, fiddling with each and every device, hoping to get some kind of reaction out of the console.

Then suddenly, her hands froze. She heard footsteps. Footsteps getting closer. She brandished her handgun once again, pointing it towards the door, ready for whatever might come through. The steps were slow and monotonous. The person heading her way didn't seem to be in any hurry. Odd, given the circumstances.

As the sound of the steps reached its' peak the door slowly opened, revealing the source of the noise: a young man dressed from the neck down in kevlar, much like the soldiers Tasha had slain before. His face, however, was covered by a distinct blank mask. She knew this mask well. She had seen it many times before…

"I thought you might find your way down here." the young man said, his voice heavily distorted and deepened. "I'd tell you that you can still stop this and come back to us…" he began to rub his wrists as he spoke. "...but I think we're well beyond that at this point."

Tasha put her gun in its' holster and prepared herself for battle. "You won't stop me." she spoke, her voice hoarse...she hadn't spoken for longer than she'd thought.

"Maybe I will, maybe I won't." the man replied, also taking a battle stance. "But I will try. I'm sorry, Tasha."

Tasha paused...her eyes glancing at the floor for a brief moment. "Me too." me said, lunging forward in a flash of moment.

In a split second, Tasha was upon her assailant, fists moving like lightning. But the masked man was just as quick, blocking each strike with great reflexes. Tasha went in for a kick to his head, but her leg was grabbed and tossed away. Tasha spun in the air before landing gracefully on the ground. Not having even a second to recover, the assailant flew at her with a kick. Tasha ducked the attack and responded with a punch to the man's back as he passed over her. She hit him with such force that he flew upwards and hit the ceiling. As he came back down Tasha delivered a powerful kick that sent him flying across the room and sprawling onto the floor.

"Ugh." the man grunted as he stood up with surprising lethargy. Tasha dashed forward to deliver another blow, but was intercepted by the assailant's raised fists. Using this to her advantage, Tasha spun away, swiftly taking out her pistol and firing three shots into his chest, electricity sparkling as he fell to one knee. Tasha quickly rushed back to the console, rapidly pressing the buttons she needed. A large, red, very inviting button was freed from its' glass cover, and Tasha quickly slammed her fist down upon it.

She looked behind her and dodged to the side as her assailant's fist slammed down into the console, shattering it into sparks and shards.

" _Alert! Alert! Reactor critical!"_ The PA blared. " _Evacuate immediately! Repeat, evacuate immediately!"_

The assailant looked up as the alarms blared. "Well, you did it." he said, staring down Tasha. "Now what?"

"Now I get the Hell out." She explained. "You'd best do the same."

"Oh, no." He said. "If we're going down, you're coming with us."

Tasha simply narrowed her eyes before turning tail and running, her assailant in hot pursuit. Instead of simply taking the stairs, she instead decided to leap up the railings of the staircase to save time. Her assailant, on the other hand, rushed up the stairs, literally tearing them up as he charged after Tasha. She pulled out her pistol and fired potshots at her assailant as she fled.

The two combatants managed to reach the roof, Tasha launching through the door and bolting across the flat surface at breakneck speeds, her assailant in hot pursuit. She calculated that she had less than ten minutes before the reactor went 'ka-boom.' This was a problem, considering that she was approaching the edge of the roof and still hadn't worked out the final part of her plan. She came to a screeching halt, staring down at the rushing water beneath her as her assailant slowed to a walk.

"Well, I hope you're happy, Tasha." He said. "Now we're both gonna die. How are you gonna justify this one?"

Tasha turned to face him, finally allowing some expression on her face. What was once a mask of stoicism gave way to sadness. "I'm sorry, Boris." was all she said before she fell backwards over the edge. She last thing she saw before hitting the water was Boris looking over the edge. She smacked into the stream below, the impact knocking the air out of her as she struggled to maintain consciousness. She was pushed down the stream in force, bumping off rocks as she desperately tried to breach the surface for air, with little success, and just when she thought that things couldn't get any worse, the building exploded, sending debris raining into the river. The resounding splash sent Tasha flying out of the water and onto the land beside it.

She coughed and gagged as she tried to regain her breath and force the water from her lungs. The last thing she saw before fading from consciousness was a one-eyed face staring down at her before her world faded to black.


End file.
